Potemkin
Potemkin (ポチョムキン, Pochomukin) is a character in the ''Guilty Gear'' series. He was a former slave in the empire of Zepp, and was a supporter of the democratic revolution that took place. He is currently a member of Zepp's elite presidential guard. Character Design Potemkin is a dark skinned, muscular man. He has brown hair that he ties up in a ponytail, and brown eyes. He also wears red battle gauntlets that he uses in battle. Potemkin's design also has him wearing blue jeans and red toed brown boots. On his left arm he has a barcode tattoo. In the original Guilty Gear, Potemkin wore a slave collar that would explode should he attempt to remove it, though he was able to remove it when President Gabriel told him he could. In the Xrd games, Potemkin's design has changed drastically, as he now sports a green body suit with grey spiked shoulder pads. He also wears a metal helmet with a decorative orange ponytail, and his eyes are the only things that are visible as most of his face is covered. Gallery [[Potemkin/Image Gallery|'Potemkin's Image Gallery']] Personality Despite his appearance, Potemkin is actually a very intelligent calculating individual who dislikes fighting, only doing it when absolutely necessary. He is also generally kind to others, and is capable of keeping his patience even when the person he's speaking to isn't being necessarily friendly. Story ''Guilty Gear'' Potemkin is sent by his Zepp Military superior Sergeant Gabriel to participate in the tournament that Testament holds. In his ending, Potemkin has just defeated Justice and is exhausted from the fight, Gabriel suddenly appears and states Potemkin's mission has not yet been completed and that the tournament was simply his 'final test'. Seething with rage, Potemkin yells at Gabriel, but before he can do anything else to vent his anger, Gabriel explains how he too detests the corrupt Zepp regime and offers Potemkin to join his revolution. Surprised by this, Potemkin joins and takes off his slave neck collar, with Gabriel assuring it will not explode. ''Guilty Gear X'' Potemkin is sent to face Dizzy -- though rather than destroying her, his intention is to rescue her and bring her to Zepp in secret. In one ending, Johnny interferes, and Dizzy goes with him and May instead; in the other, Dizzy goes with him to Zepp, where she finds happiness. Events in subsequent games render the second ending impossible. ''Guilty Gear XX'' On a tip from Slayer, Potemkin goes to look for Dizzy, whom I-No had knocked off the May Ship, and subsequently becomes entangled in the affairs of the Post-War Administration Bureau. One of his endings ends with him bickering with Johnny over whether Dizzy should go back to the May Ship or to Zepp. In his second ending, Potemkin fights with Bridget, who mistakes Potemkin for a fellow bounty hunter pursuing Dizzy. Potemkin and Bridget clear up the misunderstanding and become friends after their fight; Potemkin recruits Bridget into the Zepp military as a combat trainer, with Potemkin becoming Bridget's first student. His third ending has Potemkin fighting against an army of Robo-Kys. ''Guilty Gear XX Λccent Core Plus'' In path 1, he ends up fighting Chipp Zanuff during his storyline where he still seeks the presidency. Should Chipp be defeated with Potemkin's Instant Kill, he convinces Chipp to join the presidential bodyguard unit, similar to Chipp's Path 1 ending. In path 2, Potemkin investigates the Post-War Administration Bureau because he considered them dangerous for the Zepp Nation. He dismantles Robo-Ky and Justice clone units before returning to his country. There, Bureau members sends a suicide bomb Robo-Ky to kill President Gabriel. Potemkin covers the explosion, resulting in his death, and he's remembered as a hero with a statue on the city square. Considering the events of Xrd, neither of these endings are considered canonical. ''Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN-'' In Arcade Mode, Potemkin and Gabriel are going over Ramlethal's status and are considering allying with the UN before any kind of confrontation. But first, Potemkin is ordered to scout the area and report back. His penultimate boss is Bedman, who is charged with keeping Potemkin away from Ramlethal. After Bedman's "defeat", Potemkin realizes he's been stuck in Bedman's dream world for three days. When he comes to, he's confronted by Ramlethal, who has already put her plan into action. He defeats her, but the Cradle's been activated. Potemkin laments and wishes he could do something. In -SIGN-'s main story, Potemkin makes a brief appearance towards the end of Chapter 5, where he's interrogating Bedman in one of Zepp's holding cells. Guilty Gear Xrd REVELATOR In the wake of -SIGN-'s events, Potemkin's been assigned to investigate the Conclave's old hideout: the opera house. Gabriel senses that Potemkin's lost his ambition, and offers some parting words about being a first rate soldier. He faces off with himself, trying to clear his mind and learning to trust himself more. Then he runs into Ky Kiske at the opera house, surprised that the king has come alone. The king needs testimony from Zepp's scientists regarding the Opus along with Zepp's assistance. Potemkin challenges him to a fight, saying he needs to know something. After the fight, Potemkin reveals that he questioned the limits of his strength after his fight with Bedman. Ky disagrees, and Potemkin admits to overthinking things. Ky's glad he asked Potemkin to come here, and says they need hope in the face of an unknown force. He wants their countries to join forces and imbue hope in their people, and he wishes to share the information he's uncovered. Potemkin and Ky shake hands and agree to become that unwavering force of hope. The main story has Potemkin taking part in the Illyrian capitol battle. He's assisted by Chipp and helps clear a path for Faust, who's trying to prevent the Gears from exploding. Gameplay Command List Potemkin's Command List}} Powers & Abilities Due to a unique genetic mutation, Potemkin possesses extraordinary durability, strength and power. He is capable of descending from Zepp to ground-level without injury. It is also known that throughout the series, he never exhibits his full strength thanks to a limiter-collar placed upon his body during his slavery. The only time he disengages the limiter is during the original Guilty Gear timeline set before I-NO alters the past, where he is capable of devastating entire battalions of Large-Class Gears with merely the shockwaves emanated from his punches(which are stated and shown to have the same explosive force as his Instant Kill move, Magnum Opera). Daisuke Ishiwatari has stated that as Potemkin's strength continues to grow, he would eventually have to equip a special limiter that would constrain his entire body in order to regulate his power. He was also capable of throwing Gears the size of large buildings with ease, as shown in REVELATOR. Musical Themes * In Slave's Glory - Guilty Gear * Burly Heart - Guilty Gear X * Burly Heart II - Guilty Gear XX * Megatona Furioso - Guilty Gear XX ♯Reload Korean OST * Riches in Me - Guilty Gear Isuka * Engage - Guilty Gear Xrd * Society - Guilty Gear -STRIVE-'' Character Quotes ''See: [[Potemkin/Quotes|'Potemkin Quotes']] References and Allusions *Potemkin's name may originate from the Soviet Battleship Potemkin. *The name of Zepp empire may be a reference to Led Zeppelin. *His attack "Hammer Fall" references Swedish power metal band HammerFall. This could also be a reference to the Queen song “Hammer To Fall”. *His Instant Kill "Nuclear Hammer" may be a longshot reference to the song "Neutron Hammer" by Australian black metal band Spear of Longinus. *His main themes in Guilty Gear X and XX sound very similar to the songs Kashmir by Led Zeppelin and Wake Up by Rage Against the Machine. As well as Hold the Line by Toto. *Potemkin has many mecha homages in his moveset. Potemkin's Heat Knuckle and Heat Extend moves could be references to Domon Kasshu's Erupting Burning Finger technique from G Gundam. His Gigantor Bullet super is extremely similar to GaoGaiGar's Hell and Heaven finishing move. Trivia * His XX fighting stance is animated to the tune of "Burly Heart". * In Potemkin's ending for Guilty Gear, when he removes his slave neck collar, his ponytail reaches down his back. In later artworks and sprites, He has turned his ponytail into a bun. *One of Faust's Special Moves (What's Next?) and its Overdrive version (Super What's Next?) involves Faust dropping small-sized dolls of some characters. Potemkin is one of these characters, and both Faust and Potemkin are even voiced by Takashi Kondou as well (making it a voice actor allusion gag). *In Guilty Gear Xrd, Potemkin's throw is based on his alternate throw from GG1, which was performed identically to a normal throw, but with K instead of HS. External Links *Dustloop Forums - Accent Core Potemkin Guide *Mizuumi's GG Wiki - Potemkin *Dustloop Forums - GGXrd Rev 2 Potemkin Guide References Navigation Category:Guilty Gear Characters Category:Humans Category:Males Category:Playable Characters Category:Nation of Zepp Category:Guilty Gear Xrd Characters Category:Heroes